PEPE Meme Coin Hits $11B Market Cap Amid 1,539% Surge

PEPE hit $0.00002716, flipping UNI and LTC with an $11 billion market cap, fueled by a 1,539% yearly surge.

PEPE surged to a new all-time high of $0.00002716 following a 25% increase in the past seven days. Accordingly, the meme coin’s market capitalization exceeded $11 billion, driven by substantial whale activity and widespread accumulation. 

The rally extended PEPE’s monthly gains to 157%, while its yearly growth stands at an extraordinary 1,539% surge. As a result, PEPE flipped prominent crypto assets such as Uniswap (UNI) and Litecoin (LTC).

While PEPE achieved significant milestones, Uniswap (UNI) and Litecoin (LTC) faced contrasting outcomes. UNI recorded a 37.5% gain over the past week but dropped 3.3% in the last 24 hours, with its market capitalization standing at $10.56 billion.

LTC showed muted performance, gaining only 3.7% over the week and falling by 4.2% in the past day. LTC’s market capitalization remained at $9.88 billion.

Whales Propel PEPE Rally

An analysis of PEPE’s on-chain data, shared by Ali Martinez, revealed significant whale activity during its rapid ascent. Whales with a typical portfolio size of $10 million saw their balances rise to $7.56 billion by December 7, reflecting a 147.81% increase over the past month. 

Whales increased their $PEPE holdings by $1.14 billion yesterday! 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/gLhCs8LCLE

— Ali (@ali_charts) December 8, 2024

Meanwhile, wallets holding between $1 million and $10 million PEPE tokens recorded a 120% surge in holdings, underscoring aggressive accumulation by higher mid-tier wallets.

Similarly, wallets holding $100,000 to $1 million reported a 108% growth, signaling strong interest from mid-sized investors.

In contrast, smaller wallets with balances below $10,000 sharply declined. The $0-$1 and $1-$10 categories experienced drops of 12.78% and 29.69%, respectively, suggesting reduced participation from retail investors during the same period. 

Major Whale Transactions Fuel PEPE Rally

Amid PEPE’s rise, notable whale transactions were key in driving trading volumes and market sentiment. Lookonchain reported on December 4 that a significant holder removed 337 billion PEPE tokens, valued at $6.92 million, from Binance.

The market watcher also tracked large acquisitions over the weekend, including purchases by two wallets likely linked to the same entity. These wallets collectively spent $4.89 million in USDC to secure 190.14 billion PEPE tokens. The purchases, at an average price of $0.00002572, reflected strategic timing as PEPE’s price soared to a new peak.